Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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16 OCT. 12, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY JACK SOBLE I n the moments after Notre Da m e b ea t Texa s A & M 23-13 Aug. 31 in College Station, Texas, graduate student guard Rocco Spindler embraced freshman left tackle Anthonie Knapp. Spindler, who did not play a sin- gle offensive snap that night, con- gratulated his happy and slightly delirious teammate, who played 67 snaps in his college football de- but. The happiness in Spindler's eyes was real, despite losing his job in fall camp after starting 10 games at right guard in 2023. "I give him a tremendous amount of credit for the character that he has," Spindler's dad, Marc, told Blue & Gold Illustrated. "He clearly has a lot of his mother and his mother's side in him." Marc Spindler, who was an NFL defensive lineman with the Detroit Lions and New York Jets from 1990-98, said that exchange wasn't a one-off. "I watched him in the pregame work- outs make sure that he gave everybody a good look," Marc Spindler said. "I saw him in their ears, rooting them on, be- fore the game even started. I could tell he was probably saying, 'Come on, this is your opportunity.'" Coogan, who also lost his job despite starting 13 games at left guard last year, showed the same resolve in the early go- ing. He was at the front of the line when Notre Dame walked onto Kyle Field in College Station, looking as fired-up as the starters. He was in his teammates' ears on the sideline against NIU, trying to rally the troops. Even when he was out of the lineup, Coogan still gave a speech to the offensive line before warmups began each Saturday. "I think it was like, '60 minutes for the rest of our life,' or something along those lines," Coogan said. "I kind of blacked out. … We do end it with a curse word, which is tradition. I didn't start that." Coogan and Spindler were shocked and devastated when Notre Dame named sophomore Sam Pendleton the team's No. 1 left guard, a position they both were competing to earn before Week 1. But they remained engaged. They knew they were one play away from going back to the lineup. In an unfortunate circumstance — ju- nior center Ashton Craig went down with a knee injury that will side- line him for the rest of the sea- son and junior right guard Billy Schrauth suffered an ankle in- jury that will keep him out for multiple weeks — Coogan and Spindler got their opportunity. Through two weeks, they've crushed it. "To start as many games as those two started, and to not be the starter and to be prepared and be great teammates, I can't speak any more highly of those two guys," Irish head coach Mar- cus Freeman said. "They went in there, and they got the job done." 'LET'S RIDE' Dark. That was the word both Coogan and Spindler used when describing the aftermath of Notre Dame's decision to start Pendleton. Coogan said there were some dark moments. Spindler said it pulled him into a dark place. They knew only one of the two could start, with Schrauth's emergence as one of the team's top linemen, but they couldn't believe both of them would be sent to the bench. "I really thought coming off of two offseason surgeries, I was the guy to go to," Spindler said. "But things happen. Coaches have got to make decisions, and you don't always agree with them." "It sucks, but I told myself I was going to come to the building with a positive attitude every day no matter what posi- tion I was in," Coogan said. As Spindler said, the coaching staff had to make a decision. Freeman and offensive line coach Joe Rudolph grade every prac- tice, and they thought Pendleton outper- formed Coogan and Spindler in fall camp. TOUGH TIMES , TOUGH PEOPLE Benched before Week 1, Pat Coogan and Rocco Spindler came back with a vengeance on the Notre Dame offensive line Coogan took over at center after starter Ashton Craig was lost for the season early in the Purdue game. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER